During my Corporate Tableau Training in Gurgaon , i get questions many time regarding R Integration with Tableau
You can watch the Video above on YouTube or follow the step by step below. Don’t Forget to Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you want to receive more free content.
Writing “R” Scripts inside Tableau : Step by Step
1.Tableau with R
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This blog is intended to show how to leverage R to extend Tableau capabilities and visualize outputs from R.
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This is not a Tutorial on R.
2.What is R
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R is an open source programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics
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The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis.
3.What is R Studio
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RStudio is a free and open-source Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for R.
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RStudio is available in two editions: RStudio Desktop, where the program is run locally as a regular desktop application; and RStudio Server, which allows accessing RStudio using a web browser while it is running on a remote Linux
4.Installing R & R Studio
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Download R from the Link:
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Download R Studio from the Link:
https://www.rstudio.com/products/rstudio/download/
5.Setting Up Tableau Desktop with R
Tableau communicates with R using a package called Rserve.
You can install and initiate Rserve from R command line by entering:
install.packages(“Rserve”);
library(Rserve);
Rserve()
6.Configure an Rserve Connection on Tableau
On the Help menu in Tableau Desktop choose Settings and Performance > Manage R Connection to open the Rserve connection dialog box.
The below screen opens up:
Enter or select a server name using a domain or an IP address. The drop-down list includes localhost and the server you most recently connected to.
Specify a port. Port 6311 is the default port for Rserve servers. If the server requires credentials, specify a Username and Password.
Click Test Connection. Click OK.
7. Pass Expressions to R
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In order to let tableau know that the calculations need to go to R, it must be passed through one of the 4 functions.
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These 4 functions are : SCRIPT_BOOL , SCRIPT_INT , SCRIPT_REAL , SCRIPT_STR
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R Functions are computed as Table calculations in Tableau.
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Since these are table calculations, all the Fields being passed to R must be aggregated like Sum(PROFIT), MIN(Profit), Max (Profit), ATTR( Category) etc.
8. R Functions in Tableau
8. Run an R script on Tableau
8a → SCRIPT_BOOL
Returns a Boolean result from the specified expression. The expression is passed directly to a running external service instance. In R expressions, use .argn (with a leading period) to reference parameters (.arg1, .arg2, etc.).
SCRIPT_BOOL(” .arg1 > 0 “, SUM([Profit]))
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In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit])
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All the Fields being passed to R must be aggregated like Sum(PROFIT), MIN(Profit), Max (Profit), ATTR( Category) etc..
8b → SCRIPT_INT
SCRIPT_INT(” .arg1 / 2 “, SUM([Profit]))
Returns an integer result from the specified expression. In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit])
8c→ SCRIPT_REAL
SCRIPT_REAL(” log(.arg1) “, SUM([Profit]))
Returns a real result from the specified expression. In this R example, .arg1 is equal to SUM([Profit])
8d → SCRIPT_STR
SCRIPT_STR(” paste(.arg1 ,.arg2)”,
attr([Category]),
attr([Sub-Category])
)
Returns a string concatenate result using “R” paste function. In this R example, .arg1 is equal to attr([Category]) SCRIPT_STR(” paste(.arg1 ,.arg2)”,
attr([Category]),
attr([Sub-Category])
)
Returns a string concatenate result using “R” paste function. In this R example, .arg1 is equal to attr([Category])
9. Share a Workbook That Requires an Rserve Connection
You may need to send a workbook that contains R functionality to other users, who may be using different copies of Tableau Desktop on other computers. Or, users may download a workbook from Tableau Server that contains R functionality. Before users will be able to use the R functionality in workbooks they have received or downloaded to Tableau Desktop, they must Configure Rserve connections on their Computers.
10. Publishing Workbooks with an Rserve Connection
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Publishing a workbook with R functionality to Tableau Server requires Server to have a connection to Rserve.
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If multiple users need to access Rserve simultaneously, Rserve should be installed on Linux.
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Rserve on Linux, unlike Windows, handles each user independently and does not allow users to overwrite other’s objects.
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Before you publish a workbook that relies on an Rserve connection to Tableau Server, you should configure Tableau Server to have its own Rserve connection.
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You do this by configuring settings with tabadmin set.
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The settings are equivalent to the values you set in the Rserve Connection dialog box. They are:
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vizqlserver.rserve.host
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vizqlserver.rserve.port
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vizqlserver.rserve.username
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vizqlserver.rserve.password
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Note: The settings vizqlserver.rserve.username and vizqlserver.rserve.password should be omitted if Tableau Desktop connects to RServe without a username and password.
11. About R integration with Tableau [ As of Tableau 10.1 (April 2017)]
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You cannot publish workbooks containing R scripts to Tableau Public.
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You cannot view workbooks containing R scripts in Tableau Reader.
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You cannot publish a workbook that contains R scripting to Tableau Online.
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Tableau has been tested with R versions 3.1 and 3.2, and with Rserver version 0.6-8.
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Tableau cannot verify that workbooks that use R will render properly on Tableau Server. There might be scenarios where a required statistical library is available on a user’s machine but not on the Rserve instance that Tableau Server is using.
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For views that cannot be rendered in Tableau Server because of an R script error, you see a warning error when you publish the workbook .
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Because Tableau Server provides an authentication mechanism, it can be more secure to expose Rserve functionality to users through Tableau Server than in Tableau Desktop.
